The Full Story
In 1817, Britain paid Spain 400,000 pounds, an enormous sum, to abolish the slave trade north of the equator. Spain signed the treaty, took the money, and continued trading.
Spanish Cuba was the destination. The island's sugar plantations had an insatiable appetite for enslaved labour. Despite the treaty, Spanish ships continued carrying Africans across the Atlantic. When challenged, Spanish officials shrugged. Enforcement was lax. Bribes were cheap.
Britain was furious but limited in options. Spain was a sovereign nation; Britain couldn't simply invade Cuba. Instead, Britain established a Mixed Commission court in Havana, where British and Spanish judges would determine whether captured ships were legal prizes.
The court was a partial success. Ships were condemned and the people aboard were freed. But the trade continued. Smaller in scale, more secretive, but persistent.
It took the aftermath of the American Civil War to finally kill the Cuban slave trade, with the last known voyages ending around 1867. Slavery itself in Cuba lasted until 1886. Spain had taken British money and British pressure for decades, and gave the trade up only when the world around it had changed.
Why This Matters
Spain's duplicity shows why British abolition required such persistent effort. Treaties weren't enough. Money wasn't enough. Ending the slave trade required decades of enforcement, pressure, and vigilance.
Key Facts
- ⚠Correction: the video says the American Civil War ended Cuban slavery; the war's aftermath helped end the Cuban slave TRADE around 1867, while slavery in Cuba lasted until 1886 (Lowcountry Digital History Initiative, Britannica).